§4 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 14. 1892. 



RAMBLES IN THE ROCKIES. 



lb is so long siiice I have had a pen in my hand that the 

 habit of writing a chronicle of my adventures and mis- 

 adventures has almost left me. A new country has to be 

 well explored before it can be thoroughly enjoyed, and 

 the rapid melting of the snows during the latter part of 

 April has made excursions in every direction pleasurable 

 as well as possible. 



As soon as the passage of the mountains is practicable, 

 and that has been for the last two weeks, the sheep that 

 have wintered in Dixie and in Arizona come over the 

 divide to the lambing and shearing grounds and summer 

 ranges of the upper Sevier country. There are now no 

 less than 130,000 sheep within twenty miles of Panguitch, 

 and the coyotes and kitties are enjoying their annual 

 feast. The grass no sooner starts than the sheep have it 

 nibbled to the roots, and so all the horses and cattle must 

 be hunted and driven out of danger of starvation up to 

 some of the grassy canons and parks beneath the melting 

 glaciers, where the shepherd will hardly dare to follow. 

 Of course, the men are apt to spend several days hunting 

 their stock, and bacon palls upon the taste of even an 

 epicure. Fresh meat is easily obtained, and, as a rule, 

 I tind that the men living in this vicinity are careful not 

 to kill more than they actually need for immediate c~)n- 

 sumption, and there is, at this time of year, no danger of 

 mistaking the sex of the animal, as the knobs on the 

 bucks are quite prominent. 



It was my good fortune to go on one of these horse 

 hunting expeditions with a mighty hunter, whose name 

 is Ben. Ben has lived in this country for twenty years, 

 and has the reputation of having never shot a deer or 

 caught a trout beyond the number required to supply 

 himself or his camp with grub. We had neither of us 

 tasted fresh meat during the month of March, excepting 

 two little messes of duck, and there is no use of denying 

 the fact that Ben carried a rifle and was resolved to de- 

 fend himself to the utmost against any male Cariaeus 

 that might put in an appearance. In woodcraft Ben is 

 the peer of any man that I have ever seen. When Illinois 

 was on the frontier he hunted and fished over the great 

 prairie region, and forty-two years ago, with the Mormon 

 pioneers, he crossed the plains. He knows little but the 

 frontipx, and until the completion of the railroad, he 

 freighted in Wyoming, Uoah and southern California. 

 He would not be at home on the pavements of a great 

 city, but turn him loose in the forest or on the desert, 

 with a blanket, matches, knife and rifle, and he is on his 

 native heath. Tiie sun, the stars, the bark on the trees, 

 and the trend of the sagebrush twigs are all the compass 

 that he uepds. How little knowledge we have, those of 

 us who claim to be sportsmen, that we do not owe the 

 patient teachings and careful observation of these noble- 

 men of nature, who are as destitute of the urbanities of 

 civil'Zition as though they had been born in the heart of 

 the dark continent. 



The first day of our outing we left our horeesi in the 

 cedars, jnst b low the snow, and proceeded to climb and 

 wade U[j to the high southern exposures, where we knew 

 the deer were sunning themselves. _ But the wind arose 

 and circulated among the cliSi^, so, alihiugh we climbed 

 clear up mtothe realm of the gnzzlyar d of the mountain 

 lion, we siw nothing but tracks and droppings that were 

 scarcely five minutes old. We must have started at least 

 a dozan deer, yet all we saw was a white- mountain hare, 

 that gave us every opportunity to bag him had we been 

 60 di^ipoifd. For supper we had the same old bacin and 

 frying-pan bread, but the next morning was calm and we 

 started out with every assurance of success. Sometimes 

 we were in waist-deep snow and sometimes stood on 

 barren r'dgcs where we could look over hundreds of miles 

 of mountain and valley. At length Bin stopped and 

 sniffed the air. 



"1 dmell 'em," he said, though I walked fully a quarter 

 of a mile before I could detect the deer odor. Slowly we 

 crawlf^d down into a caii^n and up to the top of the next 

 hog's back. Ben looked over the edge and down into the 

 next gulch. His rifle was poked through the branches of 

 a pine and there was a crack. I looked below. A deer 

 was starting to its feet and wondering which way to run. 

 The sight went up another notch, there was another 

 report, and Mr. Daer leaped and fell beneath the pine 

 where he had b^en taking his morning nap. We packed 

 SOlbs. of fresh meat back to the wagon, and for a week 

 we lived "high." 



Trout fishing is the great sport of this section. We 

 have the river fishing, where trout run from 3 to olbs in 

 weight; lake fishing, where trout weighing Slbs. are fre- 

 quently ciught, and brook fishing, which to my mind is 

 the most enjoyable of all. A dozen small streams enter 

 the Severn' in this immediate vicinity, and to say that 

 they are iull of trout hard y does justice to them. Under 

 the Slate law, fishing below dams in streams used for ir- 

 rigatina; purposes is allowable at any season as these are 

 not public waters, and in Panguitch we can have a mess 

 of trout on any day of the year, 



Oid residents have a theory about the movemebts of 

 the trout which 1 give for what it is worth: 



"Lake trout remiin in the lake save as they enter the 

 tributary streams for the purpose of spawning. Fry 

 hatched' in streams and creeks remain in the brooks for 

 two years. The third season they run down to the river 

 and return every April to spawn, seeking the river again 

 in June. Brook trout and river trout are identical save 

 in point of size." 



This last assertion is a little too much for me to swal- 

 ■-low, as the river trout are typical red-throats while the 

 brook trout are more like the /oji^inah's, though some- 

 what darker than the brook trout of the East. In the 

 catching of trout this spring I have averaged seven males 

 to every female. This I can account for only on the 

 theory that the femdes. being havy with spawn, lie close 

 to the bottom and are not especially hungry. Local fish- 

 ermen, who use wood grubs for bait and fish on the bot- 

 tom, catch as many females as males. I tip my hook 

 with a fish eye and troll about three or four inches below 

 the surface. Fly-fishing will be impossible for at least 

 .another month. The immense bodies of melting snow 

 keep the waters muddy, and about noon the waters be- 

 gin to rise and do not fall until after midnight. I have 

 jried several oF the creeks with very poor success, and 

 « yen the Pah TJtes, whose wicciups are in every canon, 

 liave no luck with a hook and line. 



Last Saturday I went upon one of the most delightful 

 excursions that it has been my privilege to enjoy in this 

 mountain land. It came about in this way : About two 

 weeks ago an insurance agent, C. D. Seymour, formerly 

 of New York, struck the settlement. He wanted fish ; so 

 did I. This was our golden opportunity. About ?> o'clock 

 we started for Panguitch Creek. And now a word as to 

 this outlet of Panguitch Lake. It travels by what Caesar 

 would call "a circuitous route" from the lake to the 

 river, going about 46 miles to get 16 miles from its head. 

 For 11 or 12 miles from the settlement it has no tributary, 

 and there is neither ranch nor cabin upon its banks. 

 There the aspect of the country changes. There is a suc- 

 cession of broad meadows and narrow, picturesque 

 caftons. The meadows are all dairy ranches, and are de- 

 serted from November until April. But the farmers have 

 just moved back to their mountain homes, in time to 

 protect themselves from the inroads of the sheep, and, at 

 this time of year, when travel is almost unknown, the 

 fisherman is a welcome visitor at the lonely cabin or the 

 isolated tent of the herder. 



Tne road was rocky, and we went slowly uphill for 11 

 miles. I am heartily glad that we had neither shotgun 

 nor rifle, for the numbei's of mourning doves and of 

 mallards that constantly encircled us would have tempted 

 to a trial of marksmanship. About the creek and lake 

 greenheads breed in great numbers and afford fine sport 

 during the open season. Nor were fresh deer signs want- 

 ing, and once a spotted lynx deigned to show himself 

 and a coyote surveyed us from a neighboring hill. Just 

 as the sun was touching the western mountain we drew 

 up at an old saw mill and made camp in its deserted 

 bunk house. The creek was too high for any fishing. It 

 had risen 30in. since noon and was very muddy. After 

 supper we enjoyed the pipe and camp fire, and then when 

 "The charioteer and Btarry gem iai, 

 Htmg like glorious crowns, over Orion's grave 

 Low down in the west-," 



there was a cracking of the sag< brush, a footfall on the 

 turf and a new comer stepped into the light. It was 

 George Dodds, who owned the adjacent ranch and who 

 proved to be one of the very few men of this region who 

 know anything of the outside world. Dodds left New 

 York at the close of the war; S ymour left three years 

 ago, and somewhere between the two I started on my 

 western journey. It was 1 o'clock when he left and we 

 had discussed the ins and outs of the metropolis from 

 Castle Garden to Harlem. We had a kind of homesick 

 feeling when we lay down on the hard bunk and tried to 

 slepp. 



B fore sunrise we were driving up the creek, reveling 

 in the sharp, bracing atmosphere of dawn. Our route 

 lay through a meadow that was literallv covered with 

 sage hens and they were of immense siz-^, Th«y were 

 mating and I could not but stop and w^tch their curious 

 antics. The love-dance of the Pedioccefes is not new to 

 me, but I was not prepared for any such exhibition on 

 the part of Genii ocerms. The struUing, the combing of 

 the ground, the c tckling reminded me of a turkey-filU d 

 barnyard. Some of the birds have already mated, as I 

 found, later in the day, a nest contHining Sfven eggs. 

 It was right at the edge of a snow bank, on a bleak hill- 

 side, but I suppose the old lady knows what she is about 

 and will look out for her brood. Our horse and cart 

 were left at D odds's, tied to the corral, and we went on a 

 quarter of a mile to get grubs from a dead joine. Be- 

 neath the pines I found thf first wild flowers of epring— 

 a diminitive species of Dtdba. Each with a white grub, 

 we wandered back to the water, and one pool gave us six 

 trout, of which I secured five. This was most ercourag- 

 ing as I rather dreaded Seymour, and he fully expected 

 to do me up. Indeed if it had not been for this streak of 

 luck he would h»ve had the longer string at night. O ■ 

 our way back to Djdds'sandto breakfast we had ducKs 

 within gunshot all the tim=*, and there were plenty of 

 kiidter and jacksnipe. I also saw a species of j ay that 

 was new to me and that must belong, with many of our 

 southern Utah birds, to the avifauna of Arizona and 

 Mex CO. Speaking of birds reminds me that during the 

 day I saw a small red hawk not so large as a domestic 

 pigeon, and witnessed a pitched battle between a flock of 

 blackb irds and a magpiein which the larger bird was in- 

 glmiously worsted. 



Dodds had breakfast ready for us, and from him I ob- 

 tained many facts concerning the country, and the same 

 details were afterward given me by. other residents along 

 the creek. The fish in the streams are not nearly so 

 numerous as they were before th*-- sawmill sent its refuse 

 into the water. But there are still enough for all comers. 

 Every spring when the waters recede from the over- 

 flowed meadows the odor of decaying trout poisons the 

 atmosphere for miles. Fly-fishing in the creek is exc^l- 

 lent after the middle of June, and the fly-fi^her always 

 obtains more fish than his bait-loving rival. Eegarding 

 lake trout, the statement was made that twenty tons of 

 trout are caught annually in the lake. Thi^^ seems in- 

 credible, and yet on investigation I have found that, the 

 price of fish being 10 cents a pound at the lake, eleven 

 men during the past winter averaged $tjO each, and three 

 men with families, who do nothing bur. fish from June to 

 February, average $350 per year. Half of the twenty 

 tons are accounted for, and the sheepmen, ranchers and 

 summer campers can get away with a great part of the 

 remainder. I)i?er are so common in the sumnner time 

 that Dodds says that they often come to his corral bars 

 while he is drinking. Mountain sheep may be obtained 

 within a half day's ride, and antelope in a day and a half. 

 Sage hens, grouse and pheasants (Bonasa) are all here in 

 season, and ducks are common in summer. Bears are 

 few, but the Fdidce have at least four representatives. 

 Wild berries commence to ripen late in July, and the 

 August camper can, with a half-mile walk, supply him- 

 self with fish, flesh, fowl and fruit. 



Leaving Dodds's hospitality we spent-the day in wan- 

 dering up the creek, throwing into the most attractice 

 pools, enjoying the magnificent scenery. Now the 

 stream, lined with silvery willows, meandered among 

 broad fields and the further hills were pearly with the 

 white coats of thousands of sheep, now the pines came 

 to the water's edge and yet again the brook cut its way 

 through perpendicular walls of basalt. In one of these 

 gorges the stream, 30.ft. wide, was forced through a 

 chasm less than 3ft. in width, with walls as straight as 

 plumb line for 42f^., thence gradually receding for 350ft, 

 further. According to the Powell survey we were, at 

 ; this point, 6,000ft. above the sea level. Higher up the 

 , oreok we found fine fishing at the beaver dame. 



Sundown found us back at Dodds's ranch with fish 

 enough for supper and breakfast. The evening was 

 spent at his fireside, and Nationalism and Theosophy, 

 Mormonism and the silver question took up the time 

 until midnight. 



Monday morning our excursion ended with a drive 

 to the lake, from which the ice has not yet entirely 

 melted. The open water was black with ducks. But of 

 Panguitch Lake more at another time. We struck a 

 splendid dinner at a sheep camp and 6 o'clock found us 

 back in the settlement ready for bacon and bed. 



Panguitch, Utah^ ShoSHOSE. 



KELLUP'S CANOE. 



Toward the latter end of winter Kellup disappeared 

 after supper almost every night, and presently you might 

 have noticed a light in the woodshed. Try the door 

 though, and your rattle would only provoke a louder 

 pounding within. Even his old friend Sammy C dhoun 

 possessed no "open sesame" and had to betake himself to 

 the house. "What's the old man up to now?" 



"I'm not supposed to know;" andSusan shook her head 

 solemnly at the work in her lap. 



Presently Sam picked up a book from the floor full^f 

 cuts of boat models. Then he reached another from the 

 sewing machine and found it treating of "Canoes and 

 Canoeists." 



"Aha!" This was long drawn out. "A-hah h-h! Now 

 I know what he's building," said accusingly. "His time 

 o' life, too," This last in a deprecating tcne. 



"I know it," sighed Susan, "I've been through all thai; 

 but what do you suppose he say-'?" and she looked up 

 quick at Sammy with big eyes and her lips set tight. 

 "What do you suppose he says — says 'Nesmuk was ojder 

 than me when he quit paddling.' All Vm afraid is he'll 

 want to sleep in it nights, or under it out in the yard, 

 and catch his death. This is a flannel shirt I'm making 

 him now." 



By the look on her face Sam thought she might be 

 making him a shroud. "Yes" he paid, "he'll probably 

 sleep in it. 1 expect that's what he wants it for. There's 

 no water near by." Then he said he guessed ht'd be 

 going, but he would be on hand on F.mrth of July even- 

 ing, because Susan said that was K' llup's next holiday 

 and he h^d engagpd a man to haul the boat to a little 

 river out in the country. 



-;{■*«»* 



Well, on Monday evening S^m dropped in about 8 

 o'clock and found Kellup sitting there with his sleeves 

 rolled up. rubbing vaseline on his armt — a pair of thin, 

 sinewy arms. 



' H^'llo, Cileb! Where'd you get each a color as that?" 



Kbllup commenced to smile. First a lit-le round the 

 mouth, then a set of wrinkles took it up and communi- 

 cated to others till presently the whole furrowed, beard- 

 less countenance was covered with smilf^s. 'Simmy?" 

 then he stopped and took his knee in his bands and it 

 looked as if he was going to start another pmile, but he 

 checked it and finished his sentence, "Did you ever go 

 canoeing?" Sam said no, and intimated that a steam- 

 boat would suit him better. 



"Well, well, every man to his taste. Well, when I 

 launched her down in the meadows she was pjetty 

 cranky at first, and I was wishing I was somewhere eke 

 anel expecting t" be in a minute. Well, she kept poking 

 her nose in the reeds on both siden, and finaliv climbed 

 up on a brown, slimy log just under the suiface and 

 hung wobbling. I coaxed and coaxed and at last she slid 

 off like an alligator " 



"Big river, Caleb?" 



"Nu, just about wide enough for three barges abreast. 

 Well, I trained her out of the meadow into a thick, 

 swampy wood with grapevines hanging from tall trees 

 and trading in the water and ihe underbrush thick as a 

 hedge and dripping in the river, too, and oh, S im, T tell 

 you with the current d ep and slow and all shut in like 

 that it seemed like, like — well, like floating on a tropical 

 inundation," 



"See any game along?" 



"Well, no. Saw a watersnake wriggling over the sur- 

 face toward the leafage, and by and by coming ar- und a 

 bend I surprised a chipmunk on his way to drmk; and 

 what do you suppose his way wa^? Why, a big old 

 chestnut leaned out from the b ink at d dropped a limb 

 till the water rippled up against his elbows, and that was 

 his pathway. The little rascal chattered at me. B jt, 

 by George, Sammy, I wish you could have seen the quiet 

 cove I came to. I just lay there watching the brown 

 scum on the surface, a kind or pollen scum, that left the 

 current and came slowly round the bend to trwcean in- 

 tricate scroll work among the yellow lilies. P- eity soon 

 I got on a move with the double paddle, slowly, t-iow-ly, 

 tid I got pretty close, and then I stnle out thfl 'puddina: 

 stick,' the single blade, you know, and — " "What foi?"' 



"What for! Why, N^ <=muk always stole up on a deer 

 that way, always," and Kellupgot up, indignaint, and pre- 

 tended to rummage on tne mantelpiece for bis tobacco. 

 When he sat down again Simmy commenced: "What y' 

 got all over your flannel shirt collar, Cale - ?" 



" Well, you see, along about noon the black flies got 

 pretty thick, so I spread on the fly daub. Some 1 made 

 last" 



"Black flies, man, there's not a black fly in the State,'' 



"Well, mngqaitoes, then, hang it!" 



These interruptions were irritating. The thread of his 

 eloquence seemed broken, and he only mentioned casu- 

 ally the things he noticed on the trip down stream in the 

 afternoon. The warm sun, the restless wind, the vines 

 all swaying and showing the whHes of their leaves, the 

 dark retreats where the trees overarched, and the meadow 

 vista of bushes and high tuft grapses, w^ith red-winge^ 

 blackbirds and a Bob White sweetly calling — somewhere. 

 There was a place worn smooth on the bank near a willow 

 that looked like an otter slide, but might have been made 

 by boys in bathing, and there w.t,s a butterfly that lit on 

 the prow and basked in the sun— a long voyage. 



"But oh, Sammy, you talk about the 'poetry of motion.' 

 I just lost myself for a minute once and thought I could 

 paddle on forever, and paddle on and on and on and 

 right into heaven, mebbe." 



Then they all kept still for a minute till Sammy winked 

 at Susan and broke the spell. "Yes,." he says, "that's 

 what your wife's afraid of." 



Kellup didn't seem to real'ze that someone had sprung 

 a joke anywhere round, so after Sammy had a good loud[ 

 laugh by himself be said good night. 



1 JefFBBSOK SCRIBB^ " 



